


Oreos

by tatooedlaura



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Ficlet, X-Files OctoberFicFest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-22 21:19:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8301461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatooedlaura/pseuds/tatooedlaura
Summary: Always carry cookies ...





	

Mulder needed a break. He’d needed a break for the last four hours, two days, week and a half but then he’d sent Scully on another autopsy and knew he couldn’t take a break until she did. Usually, she could slice and dice in under two hours, including clean-up and haphazard shower ritual. Tonight, however, it had already been nearly three and not a word from his partner and he’d be damned if he would take a seat or stop doing his best while she was somewhere else, working harder, he thought, then he ever could.

It was his stomach growling that made him look up in surprise. The clock told him it was after 11pm and the greasy napkin from ‘Phil’s House of Ribs’ still in his pocket told him they hadn’t had anything since midnight. Knowing Scully also hadn’t finished even half her plate, he knew he needed to take her something.

Excusing himself from the nightshift officers, he asked directions to the nearest food, then, with one takeout container full of salad and another full of macaroni and cheese, he drove across town to the hospital. The morgue, in the basement, was seeing a lot less bustle than the emergency room through which he entered, but there were still people milling here and there, lab techs, security, and the lone redhead he’d had on his mind most of the day.

Mulder set the food down before looking through the little window of the swinging door standing between him and his partner. He could easily see how drained she was, back hunched over the side table, head resting heavily on her left hand while she scrawled notes in an unintelligible shorthand only she understood; hips swaying back and forth every few seconds as she first rolled one ankle, then the other, attempting to relieve the pressure on her arches and heels; hair fallen loose from its tie and drifting with each pendulum swing of her body.

She was also wearing his Einstein sweatshirt, which had mysteriously disappeared from his luggage nearly two years ago and mysteriously re-appeared on Scully’s form whenever they were on a difficult case. He didn’t question and she didn’t offer. 

It wasn’t until he pushed the door open and called her name quietly that she turned around. He was hit with just how much she looked like she needed a hug but knowing at this very moment, that would be the wrong thing to offer, he instead gave her a small smile, “hungry?”

She tried her best to give him some kind of smile in return but the most she could muster was a weary nod, “ravenous.”

“Well, I’ve got food out here whenever you’re ready. How’s it going?”

“This guy’s a mess, Mulder. I just finished with him a few minutes ago and I’m waiting on labs and my notes are a complete nightmare.” Indicating the sheaf of paper under her hand, “although at this point, I think I’m too tired to remember the letters of the alphabet in the proper order.”

“Can you remember how to operate a fork?”

Finally showing some signs of life, “I might need some help.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” He did, however, wave in the direction of her legs, “clean pants?”

Scully looked down, then back at him, “Yeah. I changed when I was done.”

Letting out a relieved breath, “good. I really didn’t want to eat with you wearing … bits of him.”

Shaking her head, she ducked under his arm, running her hand over his side lightly as she passed, then spied the carryout boxes, picking them up as she steered towards the little room next door, “break room. Soft couch.” Dropping to the cracked green leather, she popped her shoes off, then settled her stocking feet on the low table in front of them. “Jesus, I may never stand up again.” Cracking her now free toes, all ten it seemed to Mulder’s wincing ears, she turned to him, “what’s for dinner?”

“Salad and Mac and Cheese.”

“Saint Mulder to the rescue.” Wiggling her fingers at him eagerly, “gimme.”

“Which one?”

“Salad and then switch halfway through … deal?”

He gave her the proper box along with one of the included forks and a napkin because of her whole cleanliness thing, “deal.”

She knew he wouldn’t want to hear gory details during dinner so she kept them to herself, mostly shoveling the food, wondering fleetingly if she had enough willpower to stop at just half. Luckily, Mulder ate at the same speed and suddenly his hand appeared over the remaining salad, “switch.”

The Mac and Cheese was better than she could possibly have imagined and sooner than later, she was chasing the last noodle from the corner of the Styrofoam container. Glancing over towards Mulder, she found him staring openly at her, a look of amusement dancing in his eyes. “What?”

“Do you want me to go out and get you some more?”

A blush crept across her cheeks but she grinned anyways, “nope. I think I’m good for a few hours, especially if you brought some kind of dessert.”

Mulder’s eyes grew round, “damn it. I meant to get some off the cupcakes by the register but I forgot. I’m sorry.”

About to suggest a search party for vending machine Ho-ho’s, her face suddenly lit up. Taking Mulder’s empty container as well as her own and tossing them in the trash by the door, she rummaged through her bag which she’d left in a spare locker a few feet from them. Not revealing what she found there, hiding the mysterious item in the pocket of her sweatshirt, she dropped down beside him once again, tucked her feet beneath her, then slowly revealed,

“Oreos!”

He had no idea she could harbor such a decidedly unhealthy food anywhere on her person, “you’ve been holding out.”

“Emergency Oreos come in handy.” Handing him two of the ten in her hand, “five apiece. Ration them well.”

Mulder had to laugh, “you are a constant surprise. Six years and no idea you were a cookie hoarder.”

“Oh, Mulder, the things you don’t know.”

Enjoying his midnight in the morgue more than expected, “care to share?”

She twisted the Oreo apart carefully, then began lapping at the cream filling, “I wouldn’t want to make you blush.”

With his eyes locked on her tongue, “I think we’ve already passed that point.”

Scully chuckled, then popped the whole cookie in her mouth, leaving some crumbs stuck to the edges of her lips, “I wish I had some milk though.”

This time it was Mulder’s turn to get up, “have you searched the fridge yet?”

“What fridge?”

Pointing in the corner, “that one over there.” He headed towards it, pulled it open and found a half gallon, “bingo.”

“It’s not ours, Mulder.”

“We’ll leave ‘em five bucks and a thank you note.” Finding a Styrofoam cup in a cupboard, he poured a glass then sat back down, “madam, your milk.”

With an appreciative nuzzle to his shoulder, she motioned towards him, “I’ll let you dip first.”

“You do love me.”

“At times.”

Slowly, they ate their way through the treats, Mulder gulping the last mouthful of milk before setting the cup on the floor beside him. Shifting his arm to her shoulders, “the body’s in the cooler again, right?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Good. Then I say we take a twenty-minute nap before we have to go back to the world and all its crap.”

One step ahead, she was already gravitating towards his warmth, snugging first into her fleece, then into him, “thirty at least.”

Managing to just reach the light switch, Mulder enveloped them in soft shadows before shifting more against the armrest, pulling her head against his chest, leaning his own head on the back of the couch, “forty-five at most.”


End file.
